It’s been a while since I made a homemade custard on the stove (cough, High School Foods Class, cough). My grandma has a very effective microwave custard recipe that I use when I’m feeling ambitious, or more likely, just don’t have pudding mix. But this $1000 Hawaiian Chocolate Pie recipe includes a surprisingly delicious from-scratch-custard, and it comes from the Pillsbury’s 7th Grand National Cookbook circa 1956. Mrs. Don W. Edwards of Lincoln, Nebraska won the Best of Class Grand National Senior Contest with this recipe full of pineapple and chocolate pudding studded with some kind of mystery nuts? Neat.
Crust
1 cup sifted flour
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3-4 Tablespoons cold water
-OR-
(Grandmothers please look away) Save yourself and buy a frozen pie crust
Filling
¾ cup canned crushed pineapple
1 1/3 cups sugar
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate
¾ cup Funsten’s nuts (not sure who Funsten is, but OK)
Drain your pineapple and set aside. Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually add your milk and blend well. Bring all of it to a boil and don’t walk away. This is not the time to look at that funny meme your friend texted you. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it thickens. And since I answered the text with the meme in it, I had to strain my custard because it was a “lil chonky.”
Add a little of the warm mixture to the beaten egg yolks. Nobody got time for scrambled eggs in their custard, this pie is chunky enough as it is. Mix the egg yolks into the warm custard and cook for 1 minute, stirring the whole time. Add in your butter and vanilla. And shovel some of this vanilla custard directly into your face because OMG. Also, because there’s no way this all fits in one pie crust. Believe me, I’ve tried.
Divide the mixture in half. Stir the drained pineapple into one of the custards, and the chocolate squares into the other. Let cool.
Chop ole Funsten’s nuts (or whatever nuts you have if you don’t know Funsten) and sprinkle half of them onto the cooked, cooled pie shell. Pour in half of the chocolate mixture on top of the nuts. Cover with the pineapple mixture, and then layer on the remaining chocolate. Top with remaining nuts. Chill and serve with whipped cream!
I tried to cut this into slices and when I say I tried, I mean it slid apart in an approximation of how well I’m keeping my life together. Like it’s still sweet, but it’s a mess. Both the husband and the kiddo gave their thumbs up. To be honest, I think this would be better with coconut instead of pineapple, but Mrs. Edwards didn’t ask me.
Final Rating: Surprisingly delightful. Taste 10/10, Texture 4/10. Mrs. Don W. Edwards earned every cent of her $1000 prize.
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